onsdag, februari 27, 2008

Leftovers

How very strange to be living with someone who plans meals. The Muse does a lot of list-making and meal planning, but not because that's the way it has to be but because it's sort of relaxing to know that some things can be depended on. It simplifies the week, of course, to know that you don't have to run out and buy some junk for lunch every day at work, for example.

This is a lifestyle I haven't had to think about for a couple years, since I work from the apartment, which means that breakfast and lunch has, for quite some time, been a pretty quick activity. Get something in my belly and keep working.

Now there are actual meals I might have at lunch because we cook dinner with leftovers in mind. I'm eating more healthily, I'm learning to plan better, and I'm learning all the things I can do with leftovers.

Thing is: I think my leftovers are weird.

Take for example the image above. That's a leftovers lunch. I fried five quail eggs, divided them between two pieces of toast, and topped it with a warm mix of spinach, caramelized red onion, garlic, hot pepper flakes, and thin-sliced ham. I did this so I could use up the spinach, onion and ham.

True: this contrasts sharply from last week when I ate a chick pea burger every day because our recipe made so many! But still: fresh chickpea burgers. That's weird. It's just that when I think of leftovers I think of curious chicken casseroles, the contents of which have become more obscure in the refrigerator-congealed cream sauce.

PHOTO OP

The Muse's headbands are super good to keep the hair off my forehead and eyes while hunched over the keyboard. It's a dorkiness I enjoy, because it makes me feel like a European or South American tennis player.

2 Comments:

I was at a writing conference once where someone stood up and said, "What's wrong with the domestic life anyway?" (I think the panel was encouraging writers to go out and do something gritty and adventurous.) Your posts here are clearly little slices of domestic heaven. Tell the Muse I live by my lists, too.